Civil rights activist and advisor to the film Julian Bond (left) with director Aviva Kempner and Pulitzer prize winning Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson at a party given for his new book, “Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America.”
On March 25, 2010, we were on hand to film a historic exhibit at the Montclair Art Museum entitled “A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund,” including those works funded by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. Included in the show are such eminent Black artists such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, Rose Piper, Augusta Savage, Charles White, Hale Woodruff. This fine exhibit was shown in Chicago, and will close on July 19. Unfortunately the exhibit will not travel to another city.
http://www.montclair-art.com/exhibitions_on/
On hand to see the exhibit and be filmed were Rosenwald’s grandchildren Peter Ascoli, Rosenwald biographer, and his cousins Alice Rosenwald and Elizabeth Varet (see photos).
The Rosenwald Fund assisted not only visual artists and sculptors, but also writers Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison. Ellison wrote his award-winning novel Invisible Man under a Rosenwald Fellowship. Julius Rosenwald’s son Lessing followed in his father’s tradition by becoming one of the founding benefactors of the National Gallery of Art.
We will be documenting other upcoming events related to the inspirational story of philanthropist Julius Rosenwald.
The Grand Opening of the Rappahannock (Virginia) African-American Heritage Center at Scrabble School took place on Saturday, May 1, from 1-3 p.m. Director Aviva Kempner attended the dedication with Rosenwald scholar and relative Stephanie Deutsch to witness another uplifting chapter in the story of restoring former Rosenwald Schools.
The public turned out to view the new exhibit, and restored school building transformed into the Rappahannock Senior Center at Scrabble School.
Scrabble School is located at 111 Scrabble Road, Castleton, Virginia.
The exhibit tells the story of this historic Rosenwald School in Rappahannock County within the context of the county’s Black community, as well as its national historical relevance to the education of African Americans throughout the South during the Jim Crow era and its architectural importance as one of the few Rosenwald Schools restored. The exhibit has an interactive multimedia element featuring first-person accounts of Scrabble School and life in Rappahannock County during most of the period the school operated (1921-1968). The interactive portion is also accessible online at www.scrabbleschool.org.
In conjunction with this opening, The Rappahannock Senior Center at Scrabble School held an appreciation open house. In attendance were participants in both The Heritage Center and the Senior Center that are co-tenets of the renovated school building. Approved by the Board of Supervisors, this county owned building is one of the few Rosenwald Schools in the country that has been renovated and reused for the benefit of the community.
We will be visiting other restored historic Rosenwald Schools for our upcoming documentary.
Aviva Kempner, Producer
The Rosenwald Schools
Am very excited about starting this new film on the Rosenwald Schools. As we film I will be entering new blog items. Our first day of shooting was Thursday, March 25, 2010. The Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey is currently featuring the exhibit “A Force for Change: African American Art and the Rosenwald Fund”, featuring works by painters and sculptors who received Rosenwald Fellowships http://www.montclairartmuseum.org/exhibitions_on/ This is unfortunately the last stop for this touring show, so if you want to see it, get to the Montclair Art Museum by July 25.
Dr. Peter Ascoli, world’s foremost living authority on Julius Rosenwald (and the grandson of “JR”) gave a well-received evening lecture, which we shot for our movie. Dr. Ascoli was also interviewed, as was his cousin, Alice Rosenwald. Elizabeth Varet, Alice’s sister, was also on hand, and the three grandchildren were captured by our cameras touring the exhibit. I am so grateful for the support of the Rosenwald family.
Next up is a scouting trip to a possible future location– more to come soon!
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